Hungarian GP Qualifying Facts & Stats: Historic eighth pole for Hamilton matches his idol's record

Lewis Hamilton grabbed a brilliant pole position in Hungary, a track he has a very impressive record at, and with Valtteri Bottas playing his part in locking out the front row, the stats make very good reading for Mercedes. But who else has turned the record books upside down here, and who maintained an impressive run of form against their team mate? Here’s a round up of all the key numbers from qualifying…

• Hamilton ties the record for most poles at a single circuit with eight (along with Michael Schumacher at Suzuka, Ayrton Senna at Imola and Hamilton’s own record at Melbourne)

• Hamilton is quickest in Q3 for the second straight race, but this is his first pole in seven races and only his third of 2021

• Valtteri Bottas is second on the grid in Hungary for the fourth consecutive year without ever being on pole here

• Bottas is on the front row for just the second time this year after his pole in Portugal

QUALIFYING: Hamilton roars to Hungary pole, as Bottas denies Verstappen front-row start

• Max Verstappen started third at Imola and passed Hamilton for the lead into Turn 1

• The Dutchman has only one front row start at the Hungaroring – his pole in 2019

• Sergio Perez starts in fourth, the same position he qualified in here last year for former team Racing Point

• Pierre Gasly’s P5 is his eighth top six start of the year from just 11 races

HIGHLIGHTS: Pole for Hamilton and a crash for Sainz – all the action from Hungarian GP qualifying

• Lando Norris in sixth has his highest ever start at the Hungaroring

• Norris also outqualified his team mate Daniel Ricciardo for the seventh straight race

• Charles Leclerc starts seventh on the grid for the third time in the last five races, while there is no Ferrari in the top six here for the first time in 12 years

• Esteban Ocon’s P8 was the first time he has outqualified Fernando Alonso for six races, and also marked his first Q3 showing for seven races

• Alonso’s ninth was his sixth Q3 appearance of the season

• Sebastian Vettel’s P10 is the first time he has qualified outside of the top five here in Hungary since 2008

• Ricciardo misses Q3 at the Hungaroring for the fourth year in a row

• Lance Stroll managed a brilliant third on the grid here last year, but couldn’t make Q3 today

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• Kimi Raikkonen’s 13th ties his best starting position of the year, after he finished P13 in Silverstone’s Sprint

• It is also the first time the Finn has made Q2 for five races

• Carlos Sainz was eliminated in Q2 for the third time in the last four races

• The Spaniard is guaranteed his worst-ever starting slot in Hungary – his previous worst was 12th in his rookie year for Toro Rosso back in 2015

• Yuki Tsunoda’s early exit was the sixth time he’s been eliminated in Q1 this year

• George Russell dropped out in Q1 for the first time this season

• But the Englishman maintains his run of outqualifying his Williams team mate in every race since he joined the team

TECH TALK: A close look at the cooling solutions the teams are using to counter the heat in Hungary